Hermione had not made a choice. At least, she said she had not. Since that was what she said, Harry took her at her word.
Feeling a little sleepy, Harry said goodbye to Hermione and went back to his dormitory to sleep.
Lying in bed, Harry felt very sleepy, but rather than going straight to sleep, he quietly entered deep meditation. Arriving in that little white room, Harry once again turned his gaze toward the silver stars on the walls.
Those stars were what Neil had left behind after disappearing. Although there had originally been many of them, most were actually projections. Harry had touched and absorbed several, and each time he absorbed one, a large swath of starlight disappeared.
There were far fewer stars on the walls now. Harry estimated that he could absorb them another four or five times at most before they were all gone.
Some time had passed since he last touched a silver star. Although Harry felt he might still be a little short of that supposedly safe interval with no side effects, he felt that, at a time like this, the faster he could improve, the better.
He was already certain that absorbing the silver stars could greatly strengthen his soul-or, in the terminology of Neil's world, his mental power.
His gaze swept beneath the desk in the room. The red Little Monster was restlessly leaping and bouncing around underneath it, seemingly trying to rush out. But invisible restraints kept him from escaping.
"Move again and I'll kill you," Harry swore, then kicked underneath it. The red Little Monster dodged, though Harry could not actually kick him. He still could not enter that layer of golden light beneath the desk.
Well, the Black Man could reach inside. Harry did not know how he did